Celebrating 250 Years of Freemasonry

Celebrating 250 Years

of Freemasonry

As Freemasons will be celebrating 250 years of the existence of the Craft in South Africa during 2022, this is an abridged version of the first 100 years thereof. Not only is space in this magazine limited, but a full account would comprise several hundred pages. An abridged account of the next 100 years will be published in this magazine in 2021, with the remaining period published in 2022.

By RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA

To appreciate the significance of the continued existence Freemasonry in South Africa since its establishment here in 1772, it is necessary to appreciate the roles which the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, Scotland, France and the Netherlands had therein.

The first Masonic meeting in Holland took place at The Hague in 1729 but it was only in 1735 that the first Lodge in Holland obtained a Warrant from the Grand Lodge of England (GLE). Several further Lodges were established during the next 20 years under Warrants obtained from the GLE and it was only in 1756 that the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands (GLN) was formed with 10 Lodges under its jurisdiction.

In 1770 the GLE and the now National Grand Lodge of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (NGLN) concluded an agreement, called “The Convention”, in terms of which these two Grand Lodges agreed not to constitute any new Lodges within their respective areas of jurisdiction. As a result of the activities of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the NGLN had also established Lodges in Bengal, Ceylon and Paramaribo.

During 1771 Abraham van der Weijde, a senior Freemason in the NGLN and a captain of one of the VOC’s ships which sailed between Holland and the East, was vested with the authority from the NGLN to form a Lodge at the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived at the Cape on 24 April 1772 and called a meeting of all Freemasons living there.

On Saturday, 2 May 1772, ten Freemasons, being Pieter Soermans, Jacobus Alexander La Febre, Jan Coenraad Gie, Christoffel Brand, Petrus Johannes de Wit, Johannes Adrianus van Schoor, Barend Hendrik Reede van Oudtshoorn, Oloff Godlieb de Wet, Johannes Snyders and Abraham Chiron met in Kaapstad (Cape Town) under the chairmanship of Van der Weijde and they decided to form a lodge, to be called Loge St. Jan de Goede Hoop (which name was later changed to Lodge De Goede Hoop).

Abraham Chiron had been a member of a lodge at Frankfurt on Main and had been a resident at the Cape since 1769. He was in the service of the VOC and was elected as the first Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. The following Brethren were elected to the following offices: Jacobus La Febre as the Senior Warden, Pieter Soermans as the Junior Warden, Jan Gie as the Secretary and Christoffel Brand as the Treasurer.

There is no record of any formal consecration of the Lodge or the installation and investiture of the first Presiding Master and Officers and it appears that they immediately assumed office upon being elected. Van der Weijde duly issued a provisional Charter for Lodge de Goede Hoop, which was then registered as number 12 on the register of the NGLN.

On 5 May 1772 these Brethren drafted a petition to the NGLN wherein it was recorded that the distinguishing colour of the Lodge would be dark green and that the seal of the lodge is Hope, which is represented by a maiden leaning on an anchor at the foot of a mountain on the summit of which the sun shines and whereto the figure endeavours to ascend with the legend Spes vincit omnia impedimenta, which means “Hope overcomes all obstacles”.

On 9 May 1772 the first meeting of the lodge was held in the Apprentice Degree and three candidates were proposed and balloted and Mr. Jan Stammer was initiated. He was thereafter duly employed by the Lodge at a weekly wage. The lodge was then closed and opened in the Third Degree and Brother Marthinus Bergh, a Fellow Craft, was raised to the degree of Master Mason.

On 21 May 1772 the lodge adopted a code of By-laws which provided, inter alia, that the lodge would not raise more than one Brother to the third degree at the same meeting. In July 1772 Barend Van Oudtshoorn was appointed as the lodge’s Sword Bearer as the sword of the Presiding Master was considered, not only to be a sign of his exalted office, but also as a sign of dignity. There is no record where these early meetings took place, but it was later agreed to lease a suitable building in which the Lodge could conduct its meetings.

Between 1772 and 1781 first and second degree meetings were held on the same day and the Presiding Master was elected and assumed office on St. John the Baptist’s day, being 24 June. It was a regular occurrence that visiting seafaring Brethren were passed to the Fellow Craft degree and/or raised to the degree of Master Mason and more than 400 degrees were conferred by the Lodge during this period. Notwithstanding this, the Lodge went into recess in 1784 due mainly to the lack of permanent members at the Cape.

On 24 June 1794 the Lodge was reopened by 11 Brethren who were permanently resident at the Cape, seven of whom were previously members of the Lodge. Brother Francois Duminy, who had been initiated in France in 1778 and who held several Masonic degrees which he had obtained in lodges in Europe, was elected as the Presiding Master. Johannes Truter, later Sir John Truter, was one of the first members to be initiated in Lodge De Goede Hoop in 1794.

The previous By-laws were amended to limit the active members to 24 as it was deemed undesirable for any permanent member to reside outside Table Bay or to have an uncertain occupation. A period of three months was further prescribed before an Apprentice could be passed to the degree of Fellow Craft and 12 months before a Fellow Craft could be raised to the degree of Master Mason. The Lodge’s social life was not neglected and “Society Rooms” were constructed next to the lodge building where members and their families played billiards, skittles and miniature golf.

As a result of a war in Europe, the Cape came under British rule in 1795. The Lodge duly invited the English Freemasons who were stationed at the Cape to become honourary members. Several British soldiers and sailors were thereafter accepted as members and were initiated, passed and raised. By 1796 the Lodge was meeting every Monday evening. In 1797 Brother Louis Thibault proposed Thomas (Anton) Anreith as a member and he was duly initiated. As Lodge De Goede Hoop had become well known, it started receiving petitions from visiting “military lodges” to form permanent lodges at the Cape. In 1798

In 1863 Sir Christoffel Brand sought permission to form a Provincial Grand Lodge. This was granted and he duly constituted it in the De Goede Hoop temple under the name: The Provincial Grand Lodge of Southern Africa.

an English military lodge called Lodge Africa No. 1 was formed in Cape Town with the support of Lodge De Goede Hoop, but subject to certain restrictions.

On 8 November 1800 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a daughter lodge as it then had ninety five members. Seventeen members of Lodge De Goede Hoop became members of this lodge, which was initially named Loge St. Jan de Goede Trouw and was registered as number 26 on the roll of the NGLN. This lodge’s name was later changed to Lodge De Goede Trouw and it has operated uninterrupted as a Masonic lodge in Cape Town since such date.

By 1800 Lodge de Goede Hoop was financially able to purchase its present property, which was called the garden Domburg. Brother Louis Thibault, an accomplished French architect who had arrived at the Cape in 1794, was commissioned to draw the plans for a new lodge building. The dimensions of the main Temple are identical to those of the Sanctum Sanctorum of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem as set out in the book of Kings in the Volume of the Sacred Law.

Brother Herman Schutte, an emigrant from Bremen in Germany and also a member of the Lodge, was employed to build the Temple while Brother Anton Anreith, the renowned sculptor, was commissioned to sculpt certain statues, three of which still exist today. It is recorded that the foundation stone of the Temple was laid in 1801 in the presence of the Governor and several prominent members of Society as well as the Presiding Masters, Wardens and members of the Lodges.

In 1802 the Cape Colony was ceded to the Batavian Republic as a result of a peace treaty signed between Britain and France. Brother Jacob Abraham De Mist, a Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN and a Commissioner General of the Batavian Republic was sent to the Cape to establish a government and on 7 July 1803 he consecrated the newly constructed De Goede Hoop temple. He further presented an endorsed Charter to the lodge confirming its formation date on 2 May 1772.

During 1804 Brother De Mist, upon his departure from the Cape, appointed Brother Johannes Truter as the Deputy Grand Master National of the NGLN, a position he occupied until his death in 1845. In 1806 the Cape reverted to British rule and during 1811 certain English speaking members of Lodge De Goede Hoop petitioned the Grand Lodge of England to establish an English speaking lodge in Cape Town.

The British Lodge was consecrated in the De Goede Hoop temple by Right Worshipful Brother Johannes Truter, who also installed the first Presiding Master with the assistance and support of the members of Lodge De Goede Hoop and Lodge De Goede Trouw. During 1812 Lodge De Goede Hoop gave a certain portion of its property to the City Council to extend Plein Street, on condition that it bore the name St. John’s Street in honour of the Patron Saint of Freemasonry. This street, which is approximately 200 meters in length, still exists today.

Right Worshipful Brother Johannes Truter was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Cape Colony in 1815 and opened the lodge’s Society Rooms (now called a Refectory) in 1816. In 1818 the British Lodge sponsored the founding of a further English military lodge, called the Union Lodge.

In 1820 Right Worshipful Brother Truter was knighted for his outstanding work as the Chief Justice and became known as Sir John Truter, being the first South African born person to be honoured by a British monarch in this manner. In 1821 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a second daughter lodge under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) to accommodate its English speaking members. It was called the Good Hope Lodge and it was agreed that it would work according to the By-laws of Lodge De Goede Hoop and the Constitution of the UGLE. Its name was later changed to the Hope Lodge and it was agreed that if there was a conflict between the two statutes, the Lodges were expected to resolve it themselves.

In 1823 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a property committee with the sole task of managing its property, which committee still exists today. In 1824 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a third daughter lodge under the Grand Lodge of France to accommodate its French speaking members. It was called Lodge L’Esperance. In 1827 the permanent lodges in Cape Town, being Lodge De Goede Hoop (Netherlandic), Lodge De Goede Trouw (Netherlandic), the British Lodge (English), the Hope Lodge (Netherlandic / English) and Lodge L’Esperance (Netherlandic / French) as well as certain military lodges like the Union Lodge (English), were invited to participate in laying the foundation stone of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Somerset Road, Green Point which still exists.

In 1828 Sir John Truter was requested by the UGLE to establish a Provincial Grand Lodge for the English Constitution and he was duly appointed as the Provincial Grand Master. He was installed as such in the De Goede Hoop temple after the Brethren had attended a service in the Dutch Reformed Church in Adderley Street and had marched in procession and in full regalia to the lodge. He has been the only Freemason in South Africa who was the ruler of two Constitutions at the same time.

Brother Neethling, the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop, was appointed as the Deputy Provincial Grand Master and Brother Burton, the Presiding Master of the Hope Lodge, was appointed as the Provincial Grand Secretary. In 1828 the

The House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament met for the first time in 1854 in the hall of Lodge De Goede Hoop, and Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was elected as its first Speaker.

English Freemasons in Grahamstown petitioned the UGLE to form a lodge there and the first permanent lodge under the UGLE outside Cape Town, being the Albany Lodge was established there.

In 1830 the Lodge De Goede Hoop was invited to participate in laying the foundation stone of St. George’s Cathedral in Adderley Street, which about 400 Freemasons attended.

In 1834 Sir John Truter received a petition from Freemasons living in and around Graaff-Reinet to form a lodge and the third lodge under the NGLN was established in Graaff-Reinet, namely Lodge De Vereeniging. In 1835 Sir John Truter resigned as the Provincial Grand Master of the English Constitution due to ill health and Brother Burton was appointed in his stead.

In 1837 Brother Christoffel Josephus Brand, a grandson of one of the founder members of Lodge De Goede Hoop, namely Christoffel Brand, was elected as the Presiding Master of the lodge. In 1844 Andries Stockenström (later Sir Andries Stockenström) was initiated in Lodge De Goede Hoop and Brother Herman Schutte, the builder of the De Goede Hoop temple and other prominent buildings in Cape Town, died.

Sir John Truter, the first member of Lodge De Goede Hoop to complete 50 uninterrupted years of service and who had held the position of Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN for 41 years, died in 1845. On Saturday, 26 June 1847 Lodge De Goede Hoop conducted a ceremony in the De Goede Hoop temple to commemorate its 75th anniversary and the first Masonic Yearbook of Freemasonry, ever published in the Cape Colony, was presented to the lodge. The yearbook was compiled by Brother De Lima, a member of the lodge and it comprised 88 pages of articles of Masonic interest. The ceremony was attended by members of all the Lodges and was followed by a lavish dinner in the society rooms.

In October 1847 Brother Christoffel Brand was appointed as the Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN. The original plan of the lodge only allowed the Presiding Master to sit in the alcove in the East.

In December 1847 the lodge decided to install a permanent chair in the alcove on the left of the Presiding Master which would be reserved for the Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN. According to the minutes of Lodge De Goede Hoop, the Presiding Master, Brother Overbeek, installed Right Worshipful Christoffel Brand in his new position as the Deputy Grand Master. At this time there was a bowling green and a miniature golf course in the area in front of the lodge, which is now a parking area.

In 1851 the Rose Croix Chapter de Goede Hoop was formed under the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Netherlands. This Chapter still exists today, but now under the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of South Africa.

On 30 June 1854 the House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament met for the first time in the hall of Lodge De Goede Hoop and Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was elected as its first Speaker. This hall later became the permanent venue of the House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament for the next 40 years. In 1856 Lodge De Goede Hoop held a special

ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands, which a large number of Freemasons attended. In 1858 Brother Johannes Hendricus Brand, the son of Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand and who became the President of the Orange Free State Republic in 1864, was installed by his father as the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. In 1858 the first lodge in Natal was formed, being the Port Natal Lodge under the UGLE in Durban.

In 1860 Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was knighted by Queen Victoria for his outstanding contribution as a politician and as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. In the same year certain members of Lodge De Goede Hoop petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland to grant a warrant for the formation of the first permanent Scottish lodge in Cape Town. This petition was granted and Lodge Southern Cross was consecrated in the De Goede Hoop temple by Sir Christoffel Brand, who also installed its first Presiding Master. Lodge Southern Cross has been a tenant in the De Goede Hoop temple since 1885. In 1861 the British Lodge in Cape Town celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

In 1863 Sir Christoffel Brand sought permission to form a Provincial Grand Lodge, which was granted and he duly constituted it in the De Goede Hoop temple under the name: The Provincial Grand Lodge of Southern Africa. He appointed and installed Brother Oloff Truter, a son of the late Sir John Truter, as the first Provincial Grand Master. In 1864 the first lodge in the Orange Free State was formed, being the Rising Star Lodge under the UGLE in Bloemfontein.

In the same year Sir Christoffel Brand consecrated Lodge Unie under the NGLN in Bloemfontein at the request of President Johannes Brand, his son. In 1865 Lodge Excelsior was consecrated in Willowmore. It is recorded that between July 1865 and March 1866 Lodge de Goede Hoop held 50 meetings. In 1866 the title of the English Constitution’s Provincial Grand Master was changed

to District Grand Master to distinguish the areas of Masonic jurisdiction abroad from those in England.

In 1866 the first lodge north of the Vaal River was formed, being Lodge Flaming Star under the NGLN in Potchefstroom. In the same year Lodge St. Jan was formed in Malmesbury and Lodge Oranje was formed in Paarl under the NGLN. In 1868 the first lodge in Pretoria was formed, being Lodge Aurora under the NGLN. In 1868 the by-laws of Lodge De Goede Hoop were translated into English and in 1870 the members resolved that the minutes and the transactions should, in the future, be recorded in English as most of the members could not understand Dutch.

In 1871 Brother Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was elected and installed as the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. Between 1772 and 1872 approximately 40 permanent lodges were formed in South Africa under the different Constitutions, mostly under the UGLE. Some lodges, unfortunately, did not exist for any significant period and their names have been erased, while others have been in existence for in excess of 150 years. In 1872 Lodge De Goede Hoop hosted a special ceremony in the De Goede Hoop temple to commemorate its 100th anniversary, which more than 200 members from all the lodges in Cape Town attended. In an address by the lodge’s Orator, Brother David Faure, a dominee in the Dutch Reformed Church, a journalist, a Supreme Court interpreter and later a Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN, the following sentiments were expressed, namely: • that Freemasons must become more active in the broader community; • that Freemasonry must make itself felt in society; • that Freemasonry must exert more influence on the profane world; • that Freemasons must promote the aims and tenets of Freemasonry in their communities.